The Black Star Passes

e above it, and in perfect order the ships of the Venerians shot down to land smoothly, but at high speed. On the roof of the buildin

nd there." Arcot maneuvered the Solarite over the edge of the roof, and dropped it swiftly down the half mile to the ground belo

busy street, coming out of buildings where they evidently had sought shelter during th

in startled surprise, "t

nt sun. Physical conditions here appear to be very similar to conditions back home, and if there's anything to Svend Arrehenius' theory of life spores being sent from wor

ize of 'em," F

feet-well-built men and women with unusually large chests, who would have seemed very human indeed, but for a ghastly, death-like blue tinge to t

Wade. "I wonder what makes their blood blue? I've heard of b

ried to the tissues, and the carbon dioxide carried away by an iron compound, hemoglobin, but in many animals of Earth, the same function is performed by a c

ng-why-his hand hasn't too many fingers, but too many thumbs! He has one on each side of hi

en in tight-fitting green uniforms; a file of seven-foot giants. Obviously they were soldiers of some

two go. If we don't come back inside of a reasonable period of time, one of you might start making inquiries; the other can send a

coming to what was obviously a position of attention, put his left

first Terrestrians to set foot on Venus. Arcot and Morey won, and they quickly put on the loose-fitting venti

er door. There was a slight rush of air, as the pressure outside was a bit lower than that inside.

g suits covered them almost completely, but the strange pink color must indeed have been startling to the eyes; also their dwarf stature, and the strange suits they wore. The men of his little troop, however, as well as the people in the crowd abou

of the crowd, which was held in check by

estrial crowd back if visitors from another

We suddenly appeared out of nowhere-they don't even know our direction of

ough into an equally vast hall, a tremendous room that must have filled all the front half of the ground floor of the gigantic building, a hall of graceful columns that hid the great supporting members. The stone, they knew, must serve the Venerians as marble serves us, but it was a far more handsome stone. It was a rich green, like the green of thick, heavy gra

The diminished party stepped through the doorway into a small room whose walls were lined with copper, and an instant later, as the officer pushed a small button, there was a low hiss of escaping air,

through a very considerabl

rrestrial buildings have been wondering for some time how to get around the difficulty of shifting e

ne-I want to look at this car!" Arcot stepped over to the control board, looked at it closely, then stepped out and peered down bet

hey have a motor underneath, I'll bet, and just run it up in that way. They have never done that on Earth because of the cost of running the car up without too much power. I think I

s, much like a very exotic earthly office building. Passing through a long series of branching corridors they at last reached one that terminated

he smiling eyes, and the air of sincere interest gave his countenance an amazingly youthful air. It was warm and friendly despite its disconcerting blueness. He looked curiously, quest

uncomfortable sensation of heat, just as the Venerian felt a flash of intense cold! Each stared from his hand to the hand of the other in surprise, then

, which is 150° here, so that they are most unpleasantly hot to us. Marvelous how nature adapts herself

appeared to be a pencil of copper. In a moment he handed the tablet to Arcot, who reached out for it, then changed

clouds, but look at this. He has a nice little map of the solar system, with Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Mo

etian seemed a bit surprised at this, then thought a moment and nodded in satisfaction. He looked at Arcot intently. Then

r your quick response to our signals. We had not thought that you could answer us so soon." The Ve

eas. To him, trained though he was in deep concentration on one idea, the process of visualizing

saw the battle-and aided because your city seemed doome

ked Morey wonderingly, as he wat

earned that they sent signals to Earth-why, I haven't learned-but I'm making progress. If I don't cr

sudden decision he turned to his desk, and pulled down

sation is too great-I see you do not ha

e says this thought transference is too muc

they reached a large auditorium, where already there had gathered in the semi-circle of seats a hundred or so of the tall, blue-tin

ve you the ideas-you must learn the pronunciation, but this will

it seemed to them, as they sank into the cushions, that never had they felt such comfortable chairs. They were

sness-up from the dark, into a dream world. He saw a mighty fleet whose individual planes were a mile long, with three-quarters of a mile wingspread-titanic monoplanes, whose droning thunder seemed to roar through all space. Then suddenly they were a

rater that had been a city. The giants of the air circled, turned, and sped over the horizon. Again he was with them-and again he saw a great city fuse in a blazing fl

them, and the roaring of the mighty propellers was a thin whine-then suddenly that was gone, and from the tail of each of the titanic machines there

lanet, and in an instant the rocket flares were gone, fading and dying in the dense air. Again there came the roar of the mighty propellers. Then swiftly the fleet of giants swooped down, lower and lower. He became aware

tanding came. He knew the meaning of these visions-the meaning of that strangely distorted New York, of that red Earth. It meant that this was what the Venerians believe

rrific headache. The men about him were looking anxiously at him. He glanced toward Morey. He was sleeping deeply in the

s sibilant and predominated in liquid sounds; there were no gutturals, no nasals; it was a more musical language than Earth men

n your actions. These men have concentrated on you and taught you very rapidly with the massed power of their minds, giving you visions of what we know to be in preparation. You must

e will talk. When your friend has

ors of the building. The few people they met seemed inte

Arcot had first met his escort; and there he list

nd position are unimportant. To explain would entail a prolonged discussion of our s

oward such division. There are two enormous belts of land around the globe, one running from about 20 degrees north of the equator to about 80 degrees north. This is

or these thousands of years. By devious ways we've learned that Kaxor has concentrated on the study of physics, perhaps in hopes of finding a weapon with which they could threaten us once more. Lanor has studied the secrets of the human mind and body. We have no disease here any longer; we have no insanity. We are students of c

very inefficient machine-or was. Of late, however, we have been able to improve it, and now it is used in commerce to smelt our ores. It was this alone that allowe

e discovered the awful scope of their plans, to send you a warning if you could not help us. That you should come here at this particular time is almost beyond belief-a practically impossible coincidence-but perhaps there is more

we call it-it is akin to light, but of vastly longer wavelength. Produced electrically, it can be directed like light and sent in a beam by means of a reflection. It can

nything until Morey has received the knowledge you've given me. While we're waiting here, I might just as well

m was relatively plentiful. Gold, though readily available, was considered a nuisance, since it was of no practical value due to its softness, excessive weight and its affinity for ma

our language-but I do not kn

ere is

as iron, but it had a remarkably bluish tint. Obviously, it was the element that composed the wings of the airplane they had seen that afternoon. Arc

rd as chromium, but far less brittle. It is malleable, ductile, very very strong, very tough, especially

"I'd like to identify this element. May

ly by boiling selenic acid which, as you must know, dissolves platinum readily. The usual test for the element is

we have no radium salts whatever on Earth that we co

e for radium-it is so active that it combines with water just as sodium does; it is very soft-a useless metal, and dangerous to handle. Our chemists have never been able to understa

os of the different metals of Earth, the non-metals, and their occurrence

unwonted mental strain, just as Arcot's had. Briefly Arcot told him what he had learned, concluding with a q

ve been mixed up more and more thoroughly. Yet we have seen the vast areas of single elements. Some of those areas are so vast that they could easily be the source of an entire world! I wonder if it is not possible that Earth was thrown off from some deposit rich in iron, aluminum and

d them rapidly to the ground. There was still a large crowd about the Solarite, but the way was quickly cleared for them. As the men passed through the crowd, a

ood inside the airlock of the ship once more. It seemed home to them now! In a moment they had taken off t

demanded. "We were actually getting read

ou succeed, tell them to call in Dad and your father, and to have a couple of tape recorders on the job. We'll want a record of what I have to send. Say that we'll call back in an hour." Then, whi

uld be waiting in one hour. He had had to wait eight minutes after sending his message t

at you can concoct while Wade and I start on this

attacked by any acid except boiling selenic acid, since it formed a tremendous number of insoluble salts. Even the nitrate

the tensile strength test made with a standard bar they finally turned out by means of a carbaloy tool, gave a reading of more than one million, three hundred thousand p

such a metal to work with." The designing engineer had visions of a machine after

of forty million miles of space. In a moment it had cleared, though, and they saw the face of Dr. Arcot. He showed plainly that he was worried about the startling news that had reached

ever saw. You must start at once on a fleet of these molecular motion planes-and a lot of the gas Wade developed-you know how to make it-the animation suspending gas. They don't have it-and I believe it will be useful. I'll try to develop some new weapo

limpse of the men, for the news had spread that this ship had come from Earth. Now, the crowd had divided, and a grou

a of the winter regalia?"

mperature as constant as a thermocouple arrangement could. The slight change from day to night is only appreciable by the nightly rains-see-the crowd is beginning to break up now. It's night already, and there is a heavy dew settling. Soon it will be rain, and

and muffled in heavy garments as they were, large under

hem. Much he could not explain to them at all, f

t that permitted the communication of the necessary data and Arcot told them the formula of Wade's gas. Its ability to penetrate any material at or

g it. Hence it was made in the form of two liquids which reacted spontaneou

fighting chance in combatting the enemy if he could but capture one of their flying forts. It seemed a strange task! Capturing so hug

f chlorine. Since chlorine was rare on Venus, the men were forced to sacrifice most o

ain that seemed to them to be a cold drizzle. After they had gone, the Terrestrians

time, but Sonor was working on a twenty-three hour day. It happened that Sonor and New York had been in opposition at midnight two nights ago, which

tanks need recharging. I'd like about a ton of the drinking water." Arcot had to translate the Terrestrian measures into the corresponding Venerian terms, of course, but still the officer seemed puzzled. Such a la

, where the water could be procured directly from a stream. T

and ever since they had landed on Venus, all their power had been coming from the storage cells, but now that the electrolysis appara

us they were using produced the gas very rapidly, but it was near nightfall before the huge tanks had again been filled. Even then there was a bit more room for the atomic h

m radiance. The floodlights had not yet been turned on, but the great buildings looming high in the ruddy light were wonderfully impressive, the effect being heightene

f to traffic now, and allotted to it as its resting place. Tonlos met them shortly after

n animal, whose blood structure is the same as ours, and found it had the same effect, but that in our case the iodide of potassium is not as effective in awakening the victim as is the sorlus.

one of the other elements that we do not

ctricity somewhat, oxidizes in air to form an acidic oxide, and forms strong oxygen acids. It is far less active than iodine, except towar

wonder if it may not be the element that

ighter than that element you call n

ber of the halogen series, Morey. I'll bet t

and when Wade saw the quantity that they had said w

re to gas this whole city. Why, with that, we can bring down any ship!

ct on the idea of danger. It had been difficult to convince them that someone on Venus was getting ready to send a force to Earth to destroy them; but the weight of their scientific reputation had turned the

t planes completed now, but there were fifteen more under construction, to make up the fleet of twenty that was to attack Earth. These fifteen others would be ready in a week-or less. When they were

ted. It was about three o'clock in the morning when the tele

d on, destroying it utterly before the scout had a chance to turn from the path of the titanic ship. But even as the plane spun downward, the pilot had managed to release a magnesium flare, a blindingly brilliant light that floated down on a parachu

n for the conflict they knew must come, the battle for two worlds. They had wanted action, but they had no weapons except their invisibility and the atom